Flourless Chocolate Cake* - by Summer

Dedication.  That's right - I have dedication to this project.  So much so, that I got up at 6:30 on Friday morning to bake this cake.  The temperatures for the next couple of days are 89 and 90 degrees, so really, who wants to turn on the oven in this weather? But, I promised my dad this cake since every other time I have seen him during this project, he has ended up with breads.  He is the biggest sweet lover out there, so I wanted to make sure that he got some extra special when he visits this weekend!

Because I knew that I was going to get up early, I prepped as much as I could the night before.  I should have taken a picture of everything, but I haven't been remembering to keep the camera in the kitchen!  So when my alarm (the baby) got me out of bed, I stumbled into the kitchen and started pre-heating the oven.  My darling husband took care of the baby while I made this recipe.

This one seems like it would be difficult, but it was rather easy.  And even more so because I had done so much prep the night before.  Basically I had to melt chocolate and butter and beat the eggs.  Having a stand mixer really made the beating the eggs easy!

This cake only takes about 25 minutes to bake.  Mine was a little bit longer and I wasn't too sure if I had let it bake long enough, but fortunately it matched the picture in the cookbook, so that's always a bonus!

I also decided to make the Raspberry Sauce that is in the cookbook to go with the cake.  That was also really easy, although it took forever for the sauce to thicken - at least twice as long as the recipe called for.  But I stuck with it and then strained the seeds.

I was actually out when my parents dug into the cake.  When I got home, I saw that my dad had taken a huge slice.  Now, I knew this was going to be a rich cake, so I thought maybe he didn't eat the whole piece . . . not so!  This cake is definitely rich, but smooth and oh so chocolately!  I loved having the tart raspberry sauce to pair with it.  My dad had another piece today, and said it's even better the second day.  I can't wait to have another piece myself.  I know that I will definitely make this again.  It was easy and it truly tastes like something from a restaurant.  But you need to make sure to serve it to people who really like chocolate!

*It might look like I made the wrong recipe, but this week Lisa and I are making different recipes.  In two weeks, I'll be making the ones that she made and vice-versa.